Republican Scott Wins Florida Governor Race; Atwater Elected CFO

Floridians woke up this morning without knowing for certain who will be their next governor, although Republican healthcare executive Rick Scott held a slight edge over Democrat Alex Sink.

Sink waited until final results were in and finally conceded the race this morning.

Floridians did know this morning when they awoke, however, that state Senate President Jeff Atwater will be the state’s next chief financial officer, replacing Sink, who has not yet conceded in the race to be governor.

The latest returns in the race for governor showed Scott with 48.9 percent of the vote in the gubernatorial election, compared to 47.6 for Democrat Sink.

Scott declared victory last night.

“Based on the numbers we’re seeing, after all the votes are counted, I’m absolutely confident I will be the next governor,” Scott said.

About midnight, Sink told her supporters the race was too close to call. “It’s coming down to the wire in what looks to be a dead-even race. We’re Floridians, so we know what it means to count every single vote,” Sink said.

In the CFO race, Atwater, a Republican and former banking executive, garnered about 57 percent compared to 39 percent for his challenger, Loranne Ausley, a Democrat.

The CFO is the state’s fire marshal and chief insurance fraud investigator in addition to financial and accounting watchdog. The CFO is a member of the Florida Cabinet along with the governor, attorney general and commissioner of agriculture and as such has a say in the appointment of the state insurance commissioner.